Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters. They never ask: "What does his voice sound like?" "What games does he like best?" "Does he collect butterflies?". They ask: "How old is he?" "How many brothers does he have?" "How much does he weigh?" "How much money does his father make?" Only then do they think they know him.
---Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

We spent most of our time in the "Nature Theater," where vast arrays of lifelike taxidermy are displayed with the animals in natural poses:

I like the sloth's position especially. And the shark's.

The information about each animal is thoughtfully arranged on a card that is either unambiguously nearby, or else with a clear silhouette of the animal. I appreciated not needing to hunt for an ID number, or search for a listing and find it not to be what I was looking for. Elsewhere in the Nature Theater are also sections for insects, minerals, and even preserved plants:

The displays go up and over your head, like a tunnel.

Other sections of the museum included an exhibit on the history of the Earth (at each stage pointing out where the Netherlands was in its development), a wing on the senses creatures have and how they vary (a favorite of the children, it seemed, and for good reason), and a room containing a giant model of Earth that rotates on its axis at 100x normal speed (we measured): the Mega Globe. Here are some pictures from an exhibit on animals in motion:

This zebra is frozen in the act of fleeing.

The course of a pigeon in flight.

We went just before closing, so we'll have to go again and bring back more pictures. What's your favorite museum you've ever been to, and why? Tell us in the comments!

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